Love's Abiding Joy (Love Comes Softly Book #4)

Janette Oke

Description

Book 4 of Love Comes Softly. Reuniting with their daughter's family, grandparents Clark and Marty's hope and faith are tested by a tragedy. Another Janette Oke bestseller!

Sujets

• Love
• Love (disambiguation)

Informations

• Publié par: Baker Publishing Group
• Date de parution: 01 novembre 2003
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781441203526
• Langue: English

Extrait

Love s Abiding Joy
Books by Janette Oke
www.janetteoke.com
A CTS OF F AITH * The Centurion s Wife The Hidden Flame
C ANADIAN W EST When Calls the Heart When Breaks the Dawn When Comes the Spring When Hope Springs New Beyond the Gathering Storm When Tomorrow Comes
L OVE C OMES S OFTLY Love Comes Softly Love s Unending Legacy Love s Enduring Promise Love s Unfolding Dream Love s Long Journey Love Takes Wing Love s Abiding Joy Love Finds a Home
A P RAIRIE L EGACY The Tender Years A Quiet Strength A Searching Heart Like Gold Refined
S EASONS OF THE H EART Once Upon a Summer Winter Is Not Forever The Winds of Autumn Spring s Gentle Promise Seasons of the Heart (4 in 1)
S ONG OF A CADIA * The Meeting Place The Birthright The Sacred Shore The Distant Beacon The Beloved Land
W OMEN OF THE W EST The Calling of Emily Evans A Bride for Donnigan Julia s Last Hope Heart of the Wilderness Roses for Mama Too Long a Stranger A Woman Named Damaris The Bluebird and the Sparrow They Called Her Mrs. Doc A Gown of Spanish Lace The Measure of a Heart Drums of Change

* with Davis Bunn
JANETTE OKE
Love s Abiding Joy OKE

B ETHANY H OUSE
MINNEAPOLIS MINNESOTA
Love s Abiding Joy Copyright 1983, 2003 Janette Oke
Newly edited and revised
Cover design by Jennifer Parker Cover model photography by Jason Jorgensen
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means-electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise-without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Published by Bethany House Publishers 11400 Hampshire Avenue South Bloomington, Minnesota 55438
Bethany House Publishers is a division of Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Printed in the United States of America
ISBN 978-0-7642-2851-3
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Oke, Janette, 1935-
Love s abiding joy / by Janette Oke. - Newly edited and rev
p. cm. - (Love comes softly ; bk. 4)
ISBN 0-7642-2851-X
1. Davis family (Fictitious characters : Oke)-Fiction. 2. Women pioneers-Fiction. 3. Grandparents-Fiction. I. Title. II. Series.
PR9199.3.O38L57 2003
813 .54-dc22 2003017660
Dedicated with love
to my second sister, Jean Catherine Budd,
who left us for heaven in 1998,
with deep appreciation for the many times she
was my extra pair of hands
and for her open heart and open home
that always made me welcome;
and to Orville, the special guy
she brought home
to the family, who was reunited
with her in 2001.
JANETTE OKE was born in Champion, Alberta, to a Canadian prairie farmer and his wife, and she grew up in a large family full of laughter and love. She is a graduate of Mountain View Bible College in Alberta, where she met her husband, Edward, and they were married in May of 1957. After pastoring churches in Indiana and Canada, the Okes spent some years in Didsbury and Calgary, where Edward served in several positions on college faculties while Janette continued her writing. She has written over five dozen novels for adults and children, and her book sales total over twenty-two million copies.
The Okes have three sons and one daughter, all married, and are enjoying their dozen grandchildren. Edward and Janette are active in their local church and make their home near Didsbury, Alberta.
Visit Janette Oke s Web site at: www.janetteoke.com .
Contents
1. Family
2. Birthday Dinner
3. Planning
4. The City
5. The Real Journey Begins
6. Arrival
7. Catching Up
8. Marty Meets Maria
9. The Rescue
10. A Day of a Million Years
11. Struggles
12. Juan
13. Adjustments
14. Growing
15. Moving
16. Winter
17. Jedd
18. From Death to Life
19. Plans and Farewells
20. Homeward Bound
ONE
Family
Good mornin .
The words came softly, and Marty opened sleep-heavy eyes to identify their source. Clark was bending over her, smiling, she noted. Clark did not normally awaken her before his early morning trek to the barn. Marty stirred and stretched, attempting to come fully awake in an effort to understand why he was doing so now.
Happy birthday.
Oh yes, today was her birthday, and Clark always wanted to be the first one to greet her on her special day. Marty snuggled the covers below her chin, planning to close her eyes again, but she couldn t resist answering his smile.
An you woke me jest to remind me thet I m another year older? she teased.
Now, what s wrong with gettin older? Seems to me it s jest fine-considerin the alternative, Clark teased back.
Marty smiled again. She was fully awake now. No use trying to get to sleep again.
Fact is, she said, pushing herself up and reaching to run her hand through Clark s graying hair, I don t think I m mindin this birthday one little bit. I don t feel one speck more n a day older than I did yesterday. A little short on sleep maybe, she added mischievously, but not so much older.
Clark laughed. I ve heard tell of people gettin crotchety and fussy as they age . He left the sentence hanging but leaned over and took any sting from the words with a kiss on Marty s nose. Well, I d best get me to the chorin . Go ahead, catch yerself a little more shut-eye, iffen ya want to. I ll even git yer breakfast-jest this once.
Not on yer life, interjected Marty hurriedly. I d hafta clean up yer mess in the kitchen. But her hand brushed his cheek, and the love and care between them would have been apparent to anyone who might have been watching.
Clark left, chuckling to himself, and Marty lay back and stretched to her full length beneath the warmth of her handmade quilt. She wouldn t hurry to get up, but Clark s breakfast would be waiting when he returned from the barn.
Today is my birthday, Marty s thoughts began. Though she wasn t actually feeling older, it seemed, suddenly, that there had been many birthdays. Forty-two, in fact. Forty-two . She silently repeated the number in an attempt to grasp the fact of it. Funny, it really doesn t bother me a bit . No, there was nothing disturbing about this birthday-not like thirty had been, or forty. My, how she had disliked turning forty! It seems a body must be near worn out by the time one reaches forty, she mused. Yet here she was, forty-two, and in all honesty she felt no older than she did when she had come to those previous monumental milestones.
Forty-two, she mulled over the number again but did not dwell on it for long. Instead she thought ahead to the plans for the day. Birthdays meant family. Oh, how she loved to have her family gathered about her! When the children had been little, she herself had been the maker of birthdays. Now they were grown and old enough that it was her turn to have a special day celebration. Nandry had served the birthday dinner last year, Clae had reminded them at a recent Sunday dinner. Marty couldn t really remember. The years had a tendency to blur together, but, yes, she was sure Clae was right.
Today being Saturday, the birthday dinner would be held at the noon hour instead of in the evening. Marty liked it better that way. They had so much more time with one another, instead of trying to crowd in the celebration between the return of the schoolchildren and the milking of the cows and other farm chores. Today they would have the whole afternoon ahead of them for visiting and playing with the grandchildren.
Just thinking about the promise of this day filled Marty with anticipation. All thought of sleep now long gone, she threw back the covers, stretched on the edge of the bed, and moved to the window. She looked out upon a beautiful June morning. The world was clean and fresh from last night s rain shower. What a lovely time of year! There was still that lingering feeling of spring in the air, even though many plants had already grown enough to ensure that summer really had arrived. She loved June. Again she felt a stirring of thankfulness to her mother for birthing her in this delightful month.
Marty s thoughts turned to her own children. Nandry Nandry and her little family. The oldest of the Davis brood now had four children of her own, and what a perfect young mother she made. Her husband, Josh, teased about their baker s dozen, and Nandry did not even argue with his joking remarks. Yes, their beloved adopted Nandry would have made her natural mama proud. And then there was Nandry s sister, Clae, their second adopted daughter-Clae and her parson husband, Joe. Clae, too, loved children, but Marty felt- though Clae had not said so-that she secretly hoped the size of their family would not grow too quickly. They had one little girl, Esther Sue. Parson Joe still dreamed of getting more seminary training. Marty and Clark added little amounts to the canning jar, which was gradually accumulating funds to help pay for the much-wanted schooling. Marty hoped there would soon be enough for Joe to go, though the thought of their moving so far away was bittersweet.
Marty could feel the smile leave her face and her eyes cloud over as she thought of their next daughter, Missie. Oh, how she missed Missie! She had assumed it was gradually going to get easier over the years of separation, but it had not been so. With every part of her being Marty ached for Missie. If only if only, she caught herself thinking again, if only I could have one chat-if only I could see her again-if only I could hold her children in my arms-if only I could be sure that she is all right, is happy . But the if onlys simply tormented her soul. Marty was here. Missie was many, many days journey to the west. Yet how she longed for her sweet Missie. Though this daughter was not bone of her bone nor flesh of her flesh-Missie being the daughter of Clark and his first wife, Ellen-Marty felt that Missie was hers in every sense of the word. The tiny motherless baby girl with the pixie face who had stolen her heart and given life special meaning so many yea